Jōjin; San Tendai Godaisan ki; Lengyan zhou; Śūraṃgama-dhāraṇī; pilgrims Song China; translation academy
摘要
Jōjin (1011–1081), an eleventh-century Japanese pilgrim who chronicled his travels in Northern Song (960–1127) China, provides a significantly different perspective on Chinese Buddhist religion, rituals and politics than any continental account of the period. His diary, San Tendai Godaisan ki, provides not only invaluable information concerning significant differences between Chinese and Japanese Buddhist ritual practices but also evidence of a rare retranslation of one of the most important East Asian Buddhist spells – or dhāraṇī – which comes from an eighth-century Chinese apocryphon: the Hero’s March Spell (*Śūraṃgama-dhāraṇī, Lengyan zhou, Ryōgonshu). Jōjin’s diary is even more remarkable because it covers a period in China when textbooks, university courses on religion, and most scholars and practitioners today see the Chan ‘school’ (Zen) as ascendant. While Jōjin’s diary certainly mentions Chan teachings, masters, and texts, it is his attention to rituals and spells that deserves special consideration. Continental Buddhism beyond the narrow lens of the rise of the Chan tradition, with special attention to continued translation efforts at court in Kaifeng, makes the San Tendai Godaisan ki an invaluable resource for renewed study of continental East Asian Buddhism.
